How much is too much?

[dontknowwhy]

How long do you think is too long to spend in the gym? Depending on what is going on, I will lift for between 40 min to 1hr 45. I will do 4 sets per exercise on average, adding one or two more depending on how I feel. Some days I will have a great workout but will feel I am almost being counter productive doing 2+ exercise per group (for example: on chest day, I may DB press, incline DB press, decline bar, DB fly, while other days I'll add another incline and decilne exercise, and maybe something else for mid chest). At what point should I stop?

BTW, I am 5'8, 130 and obviously trying to gain strength and size.

[Dellde]

I never spend less than an hour, or more than an hour and a half. Hour and a half for leg day. Squats and deadlifts require a decent break in between so I don't drop weight on me or destroy my back with poor form.

What matters is you're not wasting time. Don't be that guy who spends 1 min doing a set, talks for 10 mins, does a min long set, talks for 10 mins, god I hate that guy. Turning bench pressing into an all day marathon hogging the bench.

[ateamer]

Follow the KISS principal. Keep It Short and Simple. Short, heavy workouts that involve compound exercises are the best way to put on size and strength in a hurry. If I read your post correctly, you are three to five exercises per body part, four sets per exercises. No wonder you're still small. Change all those chest exercises to one: bench press or dips. Do maybe four or five work sets with a weight that you can press for no more than five or six reps. Build your program around squats, power cleans, bench press or weighted dips, military press and pullups. Heavy weight, low to moderate reps, get in, get it done, get out. Only take enough time between sets to get your breath back for the next one. Work hard, work fairly fast and eat like a demented king at a royal feast and you won't help but grow quickly.

[Dellde]

I gotta disagree.

No such thing as putting on size and strength in a hurry. Or at least there shouldn't be. You wouldn't tell someone to get maniacal with cardio to lose weight, same goes with loading a bar up with too much weight. It's a process. It takes time, much longer than it takes to lose weight.

It's more important that you be injury free than you being able to bench an obscene amount of weights. And Power Cleans done wrong will send you to the hospital quick, real quick. That or **** you back all kinds of up.

And stuffing yourself is gonna put on the pounds, only problem is the pounds are going to be fat. Don't rush it, because it can't be rushed, not unless you're on the juice. All rushing is going to do is leave you injured and then what good are you? You sound like you're just starting.

That's good, but the BIGGEST mistake people make it pushing themselves too far, too fast. People who decide they wanna start running end up with shin splints. People lifting weights end up with painful joints they can't move. Don't let that be you. You need functional strength, which doesn't come from a herniated disk.

[FlyChicaga]

Three-four days a week, I go to CrossFit and CrossFit Striking. Including warmup, we're there about an hour. Twice a week, I go to the local gym and lift. Slow, methodical, heavy weights... Back squats, deadlifts, push press, bench press, weighted dips, pullups, weighted decline situps, dumbbell flys, overhand barbell curls, etc... Two days a week I run three miles. Then once a week I do yoga to really stretch out. Throw in sex twice a week and I'm feel like I'm getting a good workout.

The one thing is, I will often go lift in the afternoon, then do CrossFit or yoga at night. That way I can give myself an entire day off to rest.

I've only gained about 5-10 lbs, but I also haven't been eating as well as I should. I imagine if I was eating much more, I would have made more weight gain progress. However, I have increased my lifts a LOT in only two months. Back squat went from 95 lbs to 185 lbs... I'm only 5'9" and 150 lbs.

I think the key is to lift heavy weights, bu know your limits. I will do three sets of five reps, adding weight on eat set. If on the third set I'm struggling on the final rep, I'll still add weight on the next set, but I'll reduce the reps to three. I'd rather do five weighted dips with a 35 lb barbell hanging rather than 15 dips with nothing.

MAJOR downside to all this: Your clothes won't fit anymore. I only have two hoodies that still fit (out of six), I had to buy all new jeans, and my $500 interview suit is now too small. Luckily in my last interview I was able to joke about it, because I felt dumb!

[GrayPatriot]

Follow the KISS principal. Keep It Short and Simple. Short, heavy workouts that involve compound exercises are the best way to put on size and strength in a hurry. If I read your post correctly, you are three to five exercises per body part, four sets per exercises. No wonder you're still small. Change all those chest exercises to one: bench press or dips. Do maybe four or five work sets with a weight that you can press for no more than five or six reps. Build your program around squats, power cleans, bench press or weighted dips, military press and pullups. Heavy weight, low to moderate reps, get in, get it done, get out. Only take enough time between sets to get your breath back for the next one. Work hard, work fairly fast and eat like a demented king at a royal feast and you won't help but grow quickly.

+1

I had been lifting with a ridiculous routine for yrs with limited progress until 1995 when a friend of mine in the army gave me similar advice to what Ateamer just gave. This friend of mine is to date the biggest person I have ever met in person. He told me Bench, Squat, Deadlift on alternate days and nothing else, 5 sets of 5 thats it. No biceps curls or isolation exercises and eat a boatload -- this doesn't mean eat at McDonalds every meal eat means eat larger portions of healthy food and often. As small as your are you are not going to get fat in a hurry. Eating tuna and chicken and a 2,000kcal diet you will never put on size. I followed his advise and within a short amount of time I started getting stronger and a lot bigger.

Now of course I changed my workout over the years and have done the crossfit thing, olympic lifting, and tried most routine out there, but I have not done isolation exercises since then and I will never lift a dumb bell or bar bell and curl it...

Also Ateamer is not suggesting you load up the bar with an obscene weight. Since when is a weight you can lift 5 or 6 times an obscene weight?!?!?! Power cleans are one of the most productive exercises ou an do and is not that complex. A correct squat or deadlift requires more detail...

Lastily, GOMAD!

[dontknowwhy]

Thanks for the advice guys! I'm going to try it out tonight!